Showing results by narrator "Laurel" in All Categories

Meet Toadling. On the day of her birth, she was stolen from her family by the fairies, but she grew up safe and loved in the warm waters of faerieland. Once an adult though, the fae ask a favor of Toadling: return to the human world and offer a blessing of protection to a newborn child. Simple, right? If only. Centuries later, a knight approaches a towering wall of brambles, where the thorns are as thick as your arm and as sharp as swords. He's heard there's a curse here that needs breaking, but it's a curse Toadling will do anything to uphold.

When Sora, a beautiful mage with broken magic, walks into my bar, two things are obvious. One: She needs my help. Two: She’s my fated mate. I’ll stop at nothing to save her from the magical mob boss she’s pissed off. It’s the only way I’ll ever be able to make her mine. Then, the unexpected happens. The Fae magic that I once rejected comes back, cursing me to die within days if I can’t create an antidote. Sora is my best chance at getting the ingredients I need, but only if we both survive.

I met Milo Corti during his self-destructive era, and he met me at the beginning of mine. That night when we crossed paths at a college party, we only had one goal: to feel good during our hell storms. After we parted ways, I’d planned never to see him again. That was until I showed up for my first day as a student-teacher and found him sitting right there before me.

John Langan, author of the Bram Stoker Award-winning novel The Fisherman, returns with ten new tales of cosmic horror in Corpsemouth and Other Autobiographies. In these stories, he continues to chart the course of 21st century weird fiction, from the unfamiliar to the familial, the unfathomably distant to the intimate.

Tracking deep into our evolutionary history, anthropological science has begun to unravel one particular feature that sets us apart from the many, many animals that came before us—our uniquely long childhoods. Growing Up Human looks at how we have diverged from our ancestral roots to stay ‘forever young’—or at least what seems like forever—and how the evolution of childhood is a critical part of the human story.

Camille Gardner is a grieving mother who, five years after her daughter's death, is obsessed with the man she believes to be responsible. Because Camille wants revenge. Enter: the Collective. A group of women who desire justice above all else. A group of women who enact revenge on the men who have wronged them. But as Camille gets more involved in the group she must decide whether these women are the heroes or the villains. And if she chooses wrong, will she ever get out alive?

When I drunkenly message my old high-school crush one night on Facebook, I never imagined he'd respond. It's been so many years, and I thought he'd forgotten all about me. He hasn't - not even close. And when we meet in person all these years later, he's a handsome hockey player...with three equally sexy friends. They could spend every night with a different woman, but they want me. I've been so focused on my job and my computer that when this complicated real-world dilemma comes up, I'm not sure what to do. Am I supposed to choose just one man? Or can I have them all?

Award-winning novelist Vikram Seth is renowned worldwide for his magnum opus A Suitable Boy. But his dazzling debut, though less well-known, is equally innovative, masterly and ambitious. First published in 1986 and inspired by Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, it is written entirely in verse, comprising almost 600 stanzas of rhyming sonnets. This epic poem focusses on the interconnected stories of five young professionals, as they make their way in the 'unfettered city' of San Francisco in the '80s.

The last time Vee left the shores of Unity Island, she thought she'd left forever. But this summer, she's returning with her charming husband, Mike. Vee's unexpected arrival, this time as one of the wealthy 'summer people', sets the small island community alight with gossip. What's more, her childhood best friend, Sterling, is furious that she's come back—Vee abandoned him when he needed her most. And then Vee meets Rachel, Sterling's wife, and a spark is ignited within her that she can't extinguish.

Christmas on Nantucket finds Winter Street Inn owner Kelley Quinn and his family busily preparing for the holiday season. Though the year has brought tragedy, the Quinns have much to celebrate: Kelley has reunited with his first wife, Margaret; Kevin and Isabelle have a new baby; and Ava is finally dating a nice guy. But when Kelley's wife, Mitzi, shows up on the island along with Kevin's devious ex-wife, Nora, and a dangerously irresistible old fling of Ava's, the inn is suddenly overrun with romantic feuds, not to mention guests.

Published in 1915 and set in the 1890s, The Song of the Lark tells the story of Thea Kronberg, a gifted young singer who blazes her way into the world’s greatest opera houses. Thea’s arduous journey begins in Moonstone, Colorado, a burgeoning Western town, where she is one of seven children. Following an artistic awakening at an Arizona canyon, she eventually finds fame as an acclaimed opera singer, performing in Germany and at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York.

A magnificent portrayal of 1890's America and the harsh realities of a dog-eat-dog world, Sister Carrie lies at the forefront of American Naturalism. When poor young provincial woman Carrie Meeber arrives in Chicago, she little expects to be catapulted from lower-class woman to prominent Broadway actress. Passive and yielding, she lets circumstances coerce her into action and by good fortune she arrives at fame. It is in Chicago that Carrie meets a successful businessman, Hurstwood, who helps her establish her name.

How in the hell did I end up here - on a heavily wooded road in the middle of a racist county - all alone, with nothing but my twisted mind for protection? After convincing the August Knights Motorcycle Club to allow me to work off a debt my sister owed them, I found myself in the middle of madness and mayhem. I should've known that this was what life inside this dangerous club would be like, right?

From USA Today best-selling author Xavier Neal comes a dark, edge of your seat, suspense-filled motorcycle club romance featuring a tortured hero's return home and a feisty female he'll do anything in the world to save...

War veteran, Tabitha Masters, expected to live out the rest of her days with the debilitating scars of battle. But, after her crew made a deal with the devil ( Smuggler's Dilemma, Privateer Tales Book Five), she's been given a second chance. A month in a medical tank and Tabby's injuries are repaired, replaced and even upgraded. Within hours of being discharged from the hospital, Tabby hears from Shri Ganguly - a fellow veteran and survivor of the Red Houzi war.

Do you know the one thing you should never do at work? Your boss. Sadly, following that particular piece of advice is much easier said than done. Ronan Maxwell is hands down the sexiest man I’ve ever met. He’s also the pushiest, most demanding, and most arrogant SOB on the planet. And even though I can’t stand him, I never stop wondering how his ridiculously pretty mouth would feel against my skin. Or whether or not that bulge in his pants is as impressive as it seems.

A collection of radio readings of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s fiction - plus two bonus programmes. Over the years the BBC has broadcast readings of many of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novels, novellas and short stories. This collection includes some of his most famous works alongside various lesser-known tales, including three 'lost stories' (first published in 2017 and with an introduction written by editor Anne Margaret Daniel).

In the tangled bog city of Nannandry, Priloe Sharpe's life is worth only what his pick-pocketing skills can buy him. The entire planet of Grunholtz is now one big colonization failure and run completely by rival gangs. Hope of a better life is nonexistent - until the day off-worlders show up in the marketplace with a shiny piece of tech, which Priloe artfully snags. In a race for his life, Priloe must save his sister and somehow leave the planet, risking everything for a new life in the cloud city of Leger Nuage.

The first time I met Weston, he was my psychologist. I never planned to see him again. We lived in two different worlds. He was responsible. I was reckless. He was the good guy. They'd labeled me as out-of-control. He was harmony on a warm beach day. I was the hurricane that erupted through. But one night, I called him to rescue me. And he did more than that.

Gender equality is a moral and a business imperative. But unconscious bias holds us back, and de-biasing people’s minds has proven to be difficult and expensive. Diversity training programs have had limited success, and individual effort alone often invites backlash. Behavioral design offers a new solution. By de-biasing organizations instead of individuals, we can make smart changes that have big impacts.